Demountable time switch



1938. E. F. SWENSEN 2,126,515

DEMOUNTABLE TIME SWITCH Filed Jan. 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l I-TQ/ lNVE/VTOFP 1933. E. F. SWENSEN 2,126,515

DEMOUNTABLE TIME SWITCH Filed Jan: 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE DEMOUNTABLE TIME SWITCH Application January 15, 1936, Serial No. 59,282

6 Claims.

The invention relates to time-switches, and shows a time-switch specially designed to permit of its being carried upon an existing meter.

For water heating for domestic purposes, when electric current is used for the heating, it is found desirable to use a time-switch for turning the heater on and off at selected times of the day. The heating can then be done at times of the day when the demand for current is at its least, and the water then heated may remain stored for use at other times.

Thus it comes that, in houses in which a meter has already been installed, it is often found desirable to add a time-switch as an after thought. To add the time-switch as a separate unit, in a housing of its own, would be more expensive than to place it within the existing meter housing, around the existing meter. The present invention provides a time-switch specially designed to be so placed.

The time-switch described in the present invention is one which has been designed for use with one particular very widely used make of meter. Slight variations from this design are needed to suit it to other makes.

The said widely used meter is one which projects horizontally from a wall, and is enclosed in a glass housing, said housing being circular as viewed from the front, and slightly conical as viewed from the side.

Within that housing the meter fits with but little space to spare, and the present invention provides a time-switch which has its parts specially arranged in three groups, a left-side group,

"i a top group, and a right-side group, with a clear central space inside these groups. A bracket is also provided to carry these groups of parts,'the bracket being roughly in the form of an inverted U.

The whole assembly of bracket and timeswitch then can be roughly likened to a saddle, sitting upon the top, and down the two sides, of the meter, at approximately the middle of the length of the meter as seen in side view, this saddle being capable of being lowered downward into position upon the meter, and of being lifted upward therefrom.

When thus in position, the assembly is capab of being secured there without the drilling of any fresh holes in the meter. Also, the parts of the time-switch and its bracket are so located and designed that their presence upon the meter will not prevent an operator from reaching, with a screw-driver or other tool, such parts of the meter as must be reachable.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly sectional, of a meter with some of its parts omitted, showing the bracket in position upon the same, and showing, schematically, the parts of the timeswitch carried by the bracket. Note however that, in this figure, the diameter of the glass housing is exaggerated for the sake of clearness, because if it were shown with its correct diameter, relative to the bracket and time-switch, it would crowd closely to them, confusing the view.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding top view, the glass housing being, in this figure, in correct proportion.

Fig. 3 is a perspective elevation of the bracket alone.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 Fig. 1, broken away and partly sectional, showing the bracket attached to the frame of the meter.

Fig. 5 is a detail showing method of attachn ment of the bracket to the meter.

The meter I, upon which my invention is mounted, has at its front the two magnets 2, and has, at about the middle of its length, the

frame 3, which frame is shown cross-sectionally in Fig. 1, and side-sectionally in Fig. 4, and in plan in Fig. 2. The meter has also the glass housing 4. In Fig. 4, the register 5 of the meter, which is at the front of the meter above the magnets, is shown schematically.

Coming then to my present invention, the demountable time-switch:

The bracket 8 comprises the vertical rib- 9. the left wing l0, and the right wing ll. Said left wing It] has the rearward extension l2 which assists in carrying the motor I3 of the timeswitch.

Said bracket has also the left flange l4, and the right flange l5, extending downward as continuations of said rib 9, transverse of the meter.

The screw l8, seen most clearly in Fig. 4, is a part of the original meter, used originally to secure the upward flange IQ of said frame 3, Fig. 4, to parts 20 of the meter at rear of said frame 3. It is still used for that purpose when my bracket is mounted, but is then used to hold also said rib 9 of my bracket, as shown in the drawings. Cooperating with said screw l8, to

hold my said bracket firmly against said flange IQ of the meter, are the left screw 2! and the right screw 22.

The temporary removal of said screw [8, from its original position in the meter, to allow of the mounting of my bracket, does not cause iii parts of the meter to become displaced or loose, because other screws exist supplementing it.

Said two screws 2| and 22 are not a part of the original meter, but are supplied by me with my bracket. They utilize existing holes 23, shown in Fig. 5, in said flange IQ of the meter. To enable them to do this, the special nuts 24 are employed, which have the bosses 25 to hold them centrally in said holes 23.

The said three screws l8, 2|, and 22 constitute the whole of the means for attaching my bracket to the meter.

The whole of my time-switch is carried upon my said bracket 8. Its parts, instead of being set together in one compact group, as is usual in time-switch construction, are separated into substantially three groups of parts, lying substantially around three sides of a rectangular space, in which space is said frame 3 of the meter.

Or, expressing it otherwise, the parts may be said to be so arranged that they lie around the top and the two sides of an imaginary square bar which projects horizontally from a wall.

Thus, the left group of parts, carried by said left wing H) of my bracket, consists principally of said motor l3, carried on the outside of said left wing ID of my bracket, plus the train of speed-reducing gears 29, carried on the inside of that wing.

Next, the right group of parts consists principally of the dial and trips of the time-switch, designated in the present drawings all together by the reference character 30, carried on the outside of said right wing of my bracket, plus the cams 3|, carried on the inside of said right wing.

And, finally, the top group of parts: consists principally of the levers and contacts of the timeswitch, designated all together by the one reference character 32, said levers, of this top group of parts, being operated by said cams 3|, of said right group.

Included also in said upper group of parts is the shaft 34, transmitting motion from said train of gears 29 at the left, to the gearing at the right, which ultimately drives said dial 3!] and its accompanying parts.

Leads 33 lead electric current to and from the motor.

The steps in attaching my assembly, consisting of bracket and time-switch, to the meter are as follows: First, the glass housing of the meter is removed. Next my assembly is lowered into position as a saddle may be placed on a horses back, said wings l0 and II of the bracket, with the parts that each carries, then lying at the left and right sides of the meter respectively. The said three screws l8, 2|, and 22 are then secured. And, finally, the glass housing is replaced. To remove my assembly the said three screws are removed, and it is lifted upward.

The central ideas of the present invention are: First, my said bracket 8, easily mountable upon, and demountable from, the existing meter; and

- second, the disposal of the parts of the timeswitch upon the bracket, and adjacent the top and the two sides of the meter, whereby the complete time-switch may be disposed within the space available between a standard meter and its standard housing, and yet may allow of its being lifted readily from the meter.

It is obvious that my bracket and time-switch could be designed to lie adjacent to, or wrap themselves around, a smaller fraction of the total girth of the meter, without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance it might lie adjacent two sides only, instead of three, of a part of a meter which is, as the one here shown is, substantially square. Or again, it might enwrap just half the girth of a part that is substantially circular in shape. The essential point is that, like an inverted U, it admits of being lifted upward, clear of the meter.

I claim:

1. A time switch for attachment to an electric meter mounted within a casing and having a limited space between the meter and the casing, said time switch being operatively independent of said meter and being freely removable from and freely applied to said meter without requiring the replacement of any mechanism of the meter and without having any driving relation with the meter, said time switch comprising driving means, switch means operated from said driving means, intermediate mechanism operatively connecting said driving means and switch means, and supporting means adapted to engage said meter, said driving means, switch means and intermediate mechanism approximately wrapping around a plurality of sides of said meter, said driving means, switch means, and intermediate mechanism having moving portions out of contact with said meter, and said time switch occupying the limited space between the meter and the casing.

2. A time switch for attachment to an electric meter mounted within a casing and having 2. limited space between the meter and the casing, said time switch being operatively independent of said meter and being freely removable from and freely applied to said meter without requiring the replacement of any mechanism of the meter and without having any driving relation with the meter, said time switch comprising driving means, switch means operated from said driving means, intermediate mechanism operatively connecting said driving means and switch means, and saddle like supporting means adapted to straddle said meter, said driving means, switch means and intermediate mechanism approximately wrapping around a plurality of sides of said meter, said driving means, switch means, and intermediate mechanism having moving portions out of contact with said meter, and said time switch occupying the limited space between the meter and the casing.

3. A time switch device for attachment to an electric meter mounted within a casing and having a limited space between the meter and the casing, said time switch comprising driving means, switch means, intermediate mechanism operatively connecting said driving means and switch means, and supporting means adapted to engage said meter, said driving means, switch means and intermediate mechanism approximately conforming to three sides of said meter, said driving means, switch means, and intermediate mechanism having moving portions out of contact with said meter, and said time switch occupying the limited space between the meter and the casing and being freely removable from and freely applied to said meter without requiring the replacement of any mechanism of the meter and without having any driving relation with the meter.

4. A time switch device for attachment to an electric meter mounted within a casing and having a limited space between the meter and the casing, said time switch comprising driving means, switch means, intermediate mechanism operatively connecting said driving means and All switch means, and supporting means adapted to engage said meter, said driving means, switch means and intermediate mechanism approximately conforming to three sides of said meter, said supporting means carrying said driving means, switch means and intermediate mechanism as a unitary structure and being removable from and adapted to be applied to said meter without necessitating dismantling of said device, said driving means, switch means, and intermediate mechanism having moving portions out of contact with said meter, and said time switch occupying the limited space between the meter and the casing and being freely removable from and freely applied to said-meter without requiring the replacement of any mechanism of the meter and without having any driving relation with the meter.

5. A time switch device for attachment to an electric meter mounted within a casing and having a limited space between the meter and the casing, said time switch being a complete, unitary structure, operatively independent of said meter and being freely removable from and freely applied to said meter without requiring the replacement of any mechanism of the meter and without having any driving relation with the meter, said time switch comprising a driving motor located on one side of said meter, switch means located upon the opposite side of said meter, reduction and power transmitting means operatively connecting said motor and switch means and having at least a part extending transversely across a third side of said meter, and supporting means supported from said meter and carrying said motor, reduction and power transmitting means and said switch means and bodily removable from the meter without interrupting the functioning of said meter, said driving motor, switch means, and reduction and power transmitting means having mechanical moving portions out of contact with said meter, and said time switch occupying the limited space between the meter and the casing.

6. A time switch for attachment to an electric meter housed within a casing and having a limited approximately annular space between. the meter and the casing, said time switch being operatively independent of said meter and being freely removable from and freely applied to said meter without requiring the replacement of any mechanism of the meter and without having any driving relation with the meter, said time switch comprising driving means located on one side of said meter, switch means operated from the said driving means located on the other side of said meter, intermediate mechanism operatively connecting said driving means and switch means and extending across a third side of said meter, and supporting means adapted to engage. said meter, said driving means, switch means and intermediate mechanism approximately wrapping around three sides of said meter and occupying the limit'ed space between said casing and said meter, the intermediate mechanism being elongated to connect the relatively widely spaced driving means and switch means, said driving means, switch means and intermediate mechanism having moving portions out of contact with said meter.

EMIL F. SWENSEN. 

